Mr Paterson said: "Many people have had their lives turned upside down and are showing great resolve dealing with these exceptional floods.

"Some places saw the sort of weather conditions which only occur every 500 years, but flood defences have meant that 800,000 properties were protected.

At the scene

By Jo BlackBBC News

First came the storm - now come the questions.

Who will clear the five homes at Hemsby that fell off the cliff? Are the residents covered by their insurance? And will the village now receive any money for better flood defences?

Along the beach, local people wearing high visibility jackets rattle charity tins shouting "Save Hemsby coastline".

On the sand, next to the broken and battered chalets, two police officers stand guard, making sure people don't get too close.

The homes wrecked in Thursday night's tidal surge have quickly become the village's latest attraction. Visitors have brought their children to take a look, amateur and professional photographers click away.

But behind the spectacle are real people who now have to find new homes. Some chalets were holiday homes but not all of them and some residents have been left with nothing.

"We are increasing budgets on flood defences. In the course of this parliament, this government will be spending more than any previous government on flood defences.

"The focus is now rightly on getting people back in their homes as quickly as possible."

In Norfolk, one of the places hardest hit by the surge, Norman Lamb, MP for north Norfolk, met with residents in Walcott earlier.

He said: "It's a bit like a war zone there's a lot of debris on the road there are people down there doing the best they can at clearing out their homes.

"It's pretty devastating for the people involved and some people don't have insurance and have lost everything."

Hundreds of grey seals have also been lost on the north Norfolk coast because of the deadly storm surge, experts said.

Insurers are expecting many claims over damage to homes and businesses, two months after storms in southern England led to payouts of £130m.

Malcolm Tarling, of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), urged those affected to contact insurers straight away.

He said a number of insurance companies were already in some of the worst-hit areas and would be checking their records and calling customers as their priority was "to get claims moving as quickly as possible".

The largest North Sea surge since the devastating floods of 1953 hit the north Norfolk coast early on Thursday evening and headed south through the night.

Homes along the Humber Estuary in northern Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire were also affected.

The clean-up after flooding in South Ferriby, north Lincolnshire, began on Friday

Communities in Norfolk have been accessing the damage after being badly hit

People had to be rescued from homes in Rhyl, on Thursday

North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb said the damage was "like a war zone"

Northern Powergrid checked for overhead line network damage in Lincolnshire

'Complete mess'

The Atlantic storm, which brought coastal flooding and gale-force winds of up to 100mph, caused widespread disruption across the UK and claimed the lives of two men - in West Lothian, Scotland, and in Retford, Nottinghamshire.

In Scarborough people "wave dodging" close to railings and sea walls during the tidal surge and high tides in North Yorkshire have been criticised.

About a third of the sea defences in part of Scarborough's North Bay were damaged by the tidal surge that hit the region.

Scottish Hydro said on Friday that engineers were still working to restore power to 1,500 customers in Scotland.

About 1,800 homes were evacuated on Friday evening in the village of Wyberton near Boston, because of fears of flooding following damage to flood defences. However, local authorities said high tide had passed without incident.

More than 100 properties remain without power in Cumbria.

Meanwhile, a major clean-up operation has been getting under way.

Steve Hewett, the coxswain of Hemsby Lifeboat, told the BBC people had been pulling together to help those who had lost everything.

"It's a complete mess. We've had several buildings and bits of concrete blocks... being broken up and pushed down the coast. And they're now scattered all over the beach.

"There's roofs off buildings and sides of buildings - all the equipment out of buildings has literally been scattered all the way down the coast."

A Chinook helicopter has been aiding repairs of flood defences at Seal Sands on Teesside which were damaged in Thursday's storm

The EA said 800,000 homes in England had been protected by flood defences and better forecasting had given people "vital time" to prepare.

It described the tidal surge as "the most serious" for more than 60 years but said there was "a vastly improving picture" as flood waters receded in many affected areas.

The agency said sea levels had earlier peaked at 5.8m (19ft) in Hull - the highest seen by the East Yorkshire city since 1953 - and 4.7m (15ft) in Dover, Kent, the highest recorded there in more than 100 years.

Dr Paul Leinster, Environment Agency chief executive, said: "Our thoughts remain with those people who have been affected by flooding. The number of flood warnings is now reducing. However, Environment Agency teams remain on the ground to check flood risk management assets including barriers and to monitor sea levels.

"Advances in weather and flood forecasting mean that early warnings of the tidal surge were given to emergency services, homes and businesses, allowing vital time to prepare."